The Happy Death of the Good Thief, St. Dismas
Lent Day 6 (2/27)- 40 Days w/ 'The Art of Dying Well' by St. Robert Bellarmine
CHAPTER I. HE WHO DESIRES TO DIE WELL, MUST LIVE WELL (Part 2)
“But, perhaps, some one may mention, as an objection, the example of the good thief, who lived ill and yet died well. This was not the case; for that good thief led a holy life, and therefore died a holy death. But, even supposing he had spent the greater part of his days in wickedness, yet the other part of his life was spent so well, that he easily repented of his former sins, and gained the greatest graces. For, burning with the love of God, he openly defended our Savior from the calumnies of His enemies; and filled with the same charity towards his neighbor, he rebuked and admonished his blaspheming companion, and endeavored to convert him. He was yet alive when he thus addressed him, saying: "Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done no evil." (St. Luke xxiii. 40, 41.) Neither was he dead when, confessing and calling upon Christ, he uttered these noble words: "Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom." The good thief then appeared to "have been one of those who came last into the vineyard, and yet he received a reward greater than the first." True, therefore, is the sentence, " He who lives well, dies well;" and, "He who lives ill, dies ill."
San Dimas is a city in California of San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County. The words ‘San’ and ‘Santa’ translate into the word ‘Saint’ or ‘Holy One. Over 50 cities in California were named after saints (!) by Spanish monks who were starting Catholic missions along the Pacific coast. We all recognize San Francisco, San Diego, and Santa Barbara, but many of us likely have not heard of San Dimas, which was named after St. Dismas.
St. Dismas was the name the Church gave the ‘good thief’ who was being crucified on the right side of Jesus and who believed in Him in the final hours of his death. His name actually may translate into ‘death’ or ‘sunset.’
“39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power.”[g] 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-44).
Why is Bellarmine bringing up the ‘good thief’ in the opening chapter of his book? Because he stands as a possible contradiction to his first principle in the book—“To live well is to die well.” While hanging next to Jesus, the good thief admits that he committed crimes while Jesus is given capital punishment for no crimes.
Bellarmine cites two reasons why St. Dismas is not a contradiction to his first point.
1.) The first reason he gives is that St. Dismas led a holy life before his execution. This comment surprised me a bit, and so I did a bit of digging. Apparently, one of the earliest traditions about this man comes from St. Augustine who states that Jesus and Dismas had previously met when the Holy Family was fleeing to Egypt from the murderous wrath of King Herod. A band of robbers were about to attack Jesus, Mary, and Joseph on the road when one of the robbers (Dismas) was startled by the face of the Holy Child. He protects them during this incident and gives them safe passage. Whether this legend is true or not is difficult to say (we will find out in heaven!), but it does appear to be held by other church fathers besides St. Augustine (354 - 430AD). Bellarmine seems to believe this ancient tradition. [As a side note: there are many ancient traditions that Orthodox and Catholic Christians believe are true such as St. Peter being crucified upside down and buried in Rome, or St. Thomas being martyred in India, or St. Mark going to Alexandria in Egypt. However, there are other traditions that are more legendary and have never been required of the faithful to believe such as this one.]
2). Bellarmine goes on to say that even if the legend of Dismas is not true, he sees no contradiction with his point, because Dismas still ‘lived well’ in his dying hours. He defended Jesus and recognized Him for His true identity. He received God’s forgiveness and grace, and accompanied Jesus in His descent to Hades (Sheol in the Old Testament) to liberate the Old Testament saints from the realm of death. Although Dismas ‘entered the vineyard’ as a worker of the Lord at the very last hour (see Matthew 20:1-16), he still joined Abraham, Moses, and King David as they were ushered into Paradise in Heaven where angels behold the Face of God (See Matthew 18:10). What a great reward he received in experiencing this great ‘Harrowing of Hell’ and ascension into Heaven with all of the heroes of the faith!
Sadly, the other criminal being crucified next to our Lord experienced an ‘unhappy death.’ He appears to openly challenge Christ’s identity before all and demands a miracle to prove it. St. Dismas interprets his words as disrespectful to our Lord and humbly defends Jesus with the heart and eyes of faith. In some artistic depictions of this scene, we see angels crowning the repentant thief while the other is taking away by demons to Hell ( or ‘deep’ hades/the Pit of Hell which is distinct from ‘upper’ hades/Abraham’s bosom where the saints awaited the coming of Christ).
('Stories of life & Passion of Christ,' Gaudenzio Ferrari, 1513, a fresco in Varallo Sesia, Italy.)
Let’s us remember that no matter how far someone stumbles or falls that the Lord is ready to forgive them even in the last hour of life. However, Bellarmine warns us, particularly in tomorrow’s reflection, that it is a dangerous gamble to prolong turning to the Lord as we do not know what manner of death we will have (What if St. Dismas had been quickly stabbed to death on a street while robbing someone rather than going through the long, drawn out torture of crucifixion? In this case, the ‘worse’ sentence became an opportunity for grace!) It is better to love and follow our Lord from our youth, because it not only leads to a happy death, but a significantly, happier and joyous life!
Be entirely and forever His,
Kyle
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